Door-operator.



W. GRADIGK, Sn.

DOOR OPERATOR.

APPLIOATION FIL ED SEPT. 23,

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASH!NGTON. n C

W. GRADIGK, SR. DOOR OPERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEP'T. 2a, 1912.

1,071,638. Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA FLANOGRAPH COIWASHINGTONI D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQE.

WILEY GRADICK, SR., OF TYLER, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 WOLDER GROCERY (30., OF TYLER, TEXAS. 1

DOOR-OPERATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26,1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILEY GRADICK, Sn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tyler, in the county of Smith and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Operators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to door closers,'and more especially to such as are adapted for use on a sliding car door, although it could be employed elsewhere; and the object of the same is to produce an operator of this character by means of which a car door which may be stuck in place can be started and moved in either direction along the hanger or other support on which it is mounted. This and other objects are accomplished by constructing the door operator in the manner hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein- Figure l is a side elevation of a freight car with its door closed, and Fig. 2 a similar view with the door open-both showing my invention as applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a detail in end elevation, showing the pawl standing in a neutral position with its tip projecting downward. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a freight car with its roof broken away and its wall in section just above its door opening, showing the door supplied with my invention and in the act of being opened. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged elevations of the pawl and its actuating mechanism in two difierent positions. Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 77 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is an enlarged horizontal section of the fastening device on the line 88 of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective detail of the upper end of the lever.

In the present embodiment of my invention I have shown a freight car whose wall IV is provided with a door opening 0, across and into which moves and fits a door D, which may be supported by any suitable form of hanger H and may be secured in place by any suitable form of fastener F- these details forming no part of the present invention. The latter is shown and described, however, as used in connection with that type of hanger and fastener wherein the door D is moved laterally out of the door opening O when the door is to be opened and is then slid aside. In order to bring about this movement, the fastener F will include an upright rod U having an elbow E at its upper end which carries rollers R traveling on a track section H of the hanger to the right of the door opening 0, and the left upper corner of the door D will have a bracket B provided with similar rollers traveling on the left track-section H of the hanger which extends obliquely across the top of the door openingthe construction being such that when the front edge of the door is swung out of the door opening and moved to the right the rear edge of the door will follow it in a manner well understood withthis type of car doors. Coming now more particularly to the present invention, I construct said left-track section H of the hanger in the shape of a rack bar having teeth 1 along its lower edge, with which teeth is adapted to be engaged the tip of a weighted pawl yet to be described. This pawl is mounted at the upper end of edge of the door D and near its top, and has its handle I depending to a point within reach of an operator standing on the ground. When the door is closed as seen in Fig. 1, the operator has but to manipulate the fa s tening device F to free its front edge and throw it out of the door opening 0, after which he may manipulate the lever 2 by reciprocating its handle 4: to and fro, so as to cause the door to travel forcibly to the right and expose the door opening. In like manner, when the door stands open as seen in Fig. '2, the operator has but to throw the pawl over to the position therein illustrated, and by again reciprocating the lever by its handle he can cause the door to travel along its hanger to a closed position, after which it-is re-seated in the door opening 0 by manipulating the fastening device F. The pawl 10 employed in this connection is of special construction, as best seen in Fig. 7. Its tip is T-shaped as seen at the ends of the T having outstanding flanges 11 which are spaced from each other sufficiently to permit the entrance between them of the toothed or rack bar 1 whatever the lateral position of the door; the body 12 of the pawl extends from said tip straight inward on a line parallel with the face of the door a lever 2 which is pivoted at 3 near the rear D and is pivoted at 13 to the upper end of the lever; and beyond said pivot the body turns outward into an arm 1%, and then again rearward into what might be called a tail 15, which carries a weight 16. The upper end of the lever 2 is reduced in thickness as seen at 20 and rounded at its extremity 21 on an arc struck around an eye 23 which receives the pivot pin 13, and the thicker portion of the lever below the reduced portion 20 forms stops 2 1 and 25 as shown. The pawl is provided with a finger 26 projecting to the rear from its arm 1% and traveling over the rounded edge 21 of the lever, and the width of this finger and the position of said stops 2d and 25 are such that the weight 16 will hold the pawl in either of the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The former view shows the door closed, and therefore the tip of the pawl projects to the left and its T-head engages the toothed bar 1 so that when the lever is re ciprocated the door will be opened; Fig. 2 shows the door open, and here the tip of the pawl projects to the right so that when the lever is reciprocated the door will be forcibly closed. In neither position, however, does the presence of the pawl and lever prevent the door from being moved by hand, in case it does not stick or is not heavy-hence my device may be used only as a starter in case the door be stuck, although I believe its greatest utility will occur in car doors which areoftentimes stuck closed by the weight of the freight in the car.

Means must be provided for reversing the position of the pawl by an operator standing on the ground, and by preference I combine therewith other means for holding the pawl in a neutral position when desired. The numeral 80 designates a pin projecting outward from the tip 10 of the pawl, and 31 is a spring connected at its upper end with said pin and having an eye 32 at its lower end, while 33 is achain leading downward from said eye and preferably having a ring 34 at its lower extremity which may be engaged by the operators finger or thumb. By giving the chain a sudden pull downward, the spring 31 is put under sufficient tension to draw the tip 10 of the pawl out of engagement with the teeth, and swing the light end of the pawl downward so as to throw its weighted end 16 upward over the pivot 13, and thereby reverse the position of the pawl the finger 26 meanwhile traveling out of contact with one stop 24:, over and around the rounded edge 21 of the lever, and into contact with the other stop 25, or the reverse. In the outer face of the lever 2 at a proper point I mount a hook or pin 35, and when it is desired to throw the pawl out of action so that its weighted end 16 shall stand upright as seen in Fig. 3, the

operator disengages its tip from the toothed bar as just described, but instead of throwing the pawl completely over its pivot, he draws downward on the chain and engages the eye 32 with the pin 35 as seen in this view. At any time when it is desired to again throw the door operator into action, by properly manipulating the chain 33 the eye 82 may be disengaged from the pin 85 and the pawl allowed to tip to either side according as the condition of the door at that time requires. Thus it will be seen that I have produced a door operator capable of either closing or opening the door forcibly and from any point along the line of its movement. If the hanger H. of the door he of the type referred to, the flanges 11 at the extremities of the tip 10 of the pawl should be spaced sutlicicntly far apart to make said tip quite wide so that it will engage the toothed bar whatever the lateral position of the door; but with a door which slides in a single plane along its hanger, this may not be necessary, although I would prefer to employ some flanges in order to keep the tip of the pawl from slipping off the toothed bar. The details, materials, and proportions of parts are obviously not essential to the suc cessful operation of this invention, and may be changed at will.

hat is claimed as new is:

1. In a door operator, the combination with the wall having a door opening, a sliding door mounted over the same, and a toothed bar along the top of said opening; of a lever pivoted to the face of the door, and a weighted pawl pivoted to the upper end of the lever and normally engaging the teeth of said bar.

2. In a door operator, the combination with the wall having a door opening, a sliding door mounted over the same, and a toothed bar along the top of said opening; of a lever pivoted to the face of the door near its edge and having its upper end re duced in thickness and rounded at its extremity, thereby producing side stops on the thicker portion, a pawl whose body is pivoted to said reduced portion and whose tip is adapted to engage said toothed bar, a finger on the pawl traveling over said rounded edge and into contact with said stops, an arm secured to said pawl body on the opposite side from its tip and carrying a weight; and means for throwing the weighted end of the pawl over the upper end of the lever from a distant point.

3. In a door operator, the combination with the wall having a door opening, a sliding door mounted over the same, and a toothed bar along the top of said opening; of a lever pivoted to the face of the door and having its upper end reduced in thickness and rounded at its extremity, thereby producing side stops on the thicker portion, a

pawl whose body is pivoted to said reduced portion and Whose tip is adapted to engage said toothed bar, a finger on the pawl traveling over said rounded edge and into contact with said stops, an arm secured to said pawl and carrying a weight; a spring connected with the tip of the pawl, an eye at the lower end of the spring, a chain connected with said eye and having a ring at its lower extremity, and a pin in the lever with which said eye is adapted to be engaged when the spring is under tension, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a door operator, the combination with the wall having a door opening, a sliding door mounted over the same, and a toothed bar along the top of said opening; of a lever pivoted near its upper end to the face of the door and having side stops near its upperextremity above its pivot and a pin below said pivot, a pawl pivoted at its mid-length to the upper end of the lever with its tip projecting beyond the same and adapted to engage said toothed bar, a weight on its tail end throwing the same into contact with one or the other of said stops, a member connected with the pawl and having an eye adapted to be engaged with said hook, and a chain leading down from said eye to within reach of an operator standing on the ground, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILEY GRADICK, Sn.

Witnesses ALEX WOLDERT, JANET CALDWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

